Focus

Bootleg vendor stands his ground

By Si Tingting (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-29 07:56

For the past five years Zhou Jianguo has conducted his pirated DVD business from his bicycle. In the morning, he pedals to a place, which he refuses to identify, where he buys the pirated DVDs, and then from 3 pm to 10 pm, he sells them on his 'turf' in front of a commercial apartment compound near Beijing's Bird's Nest National Stadium.

Even though the 39-year-old vendor, originally from Hubei province, is self-employed and does not even have a shop, he never shows up late for work.

"The most important thing have I learned running this business is that you need a good reputation. If my customers came to buy DVDs from me and I am not there, I might loose some of my regular customers," he said, adding that he never sells poor quality copies to his clients. "Sometimes, I can't get good copies for popular new movies, so I will warn my customers that the copies I have are poor and tell them they can trade for good copies once I get them," he said.

When Zhou sets up on his "turf", he puts a few dozen DVDs, mostly new releases, in a box and in his bicycle basket, but hides hundreds of older movies in the bushes and gardens nearby.

"I cannot put all my eggs in the same basket in case I get raided by the police," he said.

In the past week many of Beijing's hundreds of illegal DVD sellers have disappeared from subways stations, commercial apartment compounds and shopping malls where they often do business, as the local police increase their efforts to seize illegal DVD sellers before the Shanghai Expo starts. But Zhou refuses to be cowed out of his turf.

"I feel that I must be there for my customers. Whenever I go home for a family reunion, I get dozens of calls from my customers " he said.

A new pirated DVD store, which opened just 100 meters from where he normally stands, is also trying to muscle him out of his turf, he said.

The manager of the story threatened to tell the authorities about Zhou's illegal business, but Zhou retorted that he knew the manager wouldn't dare since his store is also an illegal business, according to Zhou.

But Zhou concedes he has lost a few customers to the store, which has a huge collection of older movies and can get better quality versions of new releases faster than he can. But the store's higher prices (which range from six to 12 yuan per DVD) and Zhou's reputation have helped him keep most of his customers, he said.

"My customers don't buy films from the store if they can get them from me. I've got high customer loyalty," he said proudly.

Zhou has been in the pirated movie business for nine year and started by working in a Chaoyang store that sold pirated VCDs and CDs.

He buys the pirated copies at what he calls his "secret DVD black market" for a little less than four yuan a piece and sells them for five yuan each, sometimes dropping his price to four and a half yuan per DVD for his favorite customers. He conceded it's a small profit margin and that he struggles to eke out a living.

He shares an underground apartment with some scrap dealers and cooks for himself.

And without a shop for shelter, he is at the mercy of the elements when he works each evening.

"This year, business is difficult, not because I've got fewer customers. It's just this year we had a extremely cold and long winter in Beijing and even though it's now spring, I still shiver a lot when I'm wearing just my two-layer jacket," he said.

But Zhou says he has no plans to leave the capital. He's tried selling pirated DVDs in Shanghai, Shenzhen and even is some second-tier Chinese cities, and found it more difficult than in Beijing. But he also said he may quit the business in a few years and if he does, he may publish a blog revealing all his secrets.

"My story could become a hit movie," he said, with a grin.

Zhou said he prefers foreign movies to Chinese ones even though he doesn't know any foreign languages

"I'm a busy man, so I seldom watch a movie from the beginning to the end. I always fast forward through them to get a rough idea, so I can describe them to the potential buyers and I never waste my time on Chinese movies, which overwhelmingly lack sophisticated plots," he said, adding that his favorite movies are The Shawshank Redemption and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.